Behind the Nodachi
by sanzopriestess
Summary: A nodachi is only a weapon, so what happens when Law loses it? Why is he hellbent on finding it when he could simply get a new one? And what happens when a face from the past reappears in a very unlikely place? Lawxoc oneshot.


**Disclaimer:** I do NOT own One Piece. Never have, never will. :( The Oc and the idea is mine. That's all i rightfully calim.

Behind the Nodachi

* * *

"Have you seen my nodachi?" Law asked the crew that was lined up in front of him. He appeared quite calm, his feet kicked up onto the top of the desk he was sitting behind, the chair he was seated on rested on two legs instead of four and his hands were folded neatly in his lap. However, despite the cool and calm act as well as his collected demeanor there was a dangerous edge to his voice.

In response there was a chorus of no's, I haven't seen it, or better yet, it was last seen with Bepo, all different ways to say that not a single one of his crew members had seen his nodachi.

Because they were not far from surfacing he said, "No one is leaving the sub until it is found." The corners of Law's mouth were pulled down to form the slightest of frowns.

Nervously Shachi inched his hand into the air and waited for Law to tell him that it was ok to speak, otherwise he was not going to say a word. Their captain was dropping a lot of small clues that hinted that he wasn't the least bit happy or agreeable at the moment. It didn't help that his hat was casting that sinister shadow over Captain's eyes.

"What is it?" Law sighed with a look that made Shachi drop his raised hand instantly.

"Well…er…why can't you just get a new one?" True nodachis were not the most used bladed weapon, unlike katanas and daggers but surely they weren't that rare. Surely if their captain looked for another nodachi one could be found.

"Yeah Cap'n why can't you get a new one?" Penguin piped up, joining the conversation.

"I don't particularly want to pay for a new one when the one I've already got is in perfect condition." Law's voice steadily went from simply irate to threatening by time he had finished speaking. He did not have to explain himself to his crew. "Now, I want my nodachi found. Do not bother showing your faces until it has been found. Do you understand me?"

There was a collective 'Yes Cap'n' before they hightailed it out of the study, scattering like roaches who did not want to be stepped on. The one member who stayed in the room was Bepo, who instead took a step closer to the desk.

"Where do you think she went?" Law asked his first mate. He had already torn apart the study and the operating room, had put everything back in order. After demolishing and then cleaning those two rooms he had gone straight to his room and had torn it apart as well, only unlike the other rooms he had yet to put back together. After his nodachi had not turned up in his room Law had jumped to not so crazy conclusions and then had called his crew into the study. If he couldn't find it himself then maybe, just maybe his crew would be able to do so.

"I don't know Captain. But you had it with you when we set sail." Bepo offered. Of course they had set sail over a week ago but the information limited the places the nodachi could be.

The frown on Law's face deepened. "I see. Don't you have something you should be doing?" Law decided that maybe if he slept on it then maybe he might remember what happened to his weapon or where he might have placed it. The chances were quite slim but he had already done everything else, like retracing his steps- something he had done many times.

* * *

"Wait!" A girl's voice shouted from behind Law as he made his way to the boat that would be his ship until he got a better one. For now it would work.

The sky overhead was low, slate grey, and threatening to start snowing. The ground beneath was white with snow that reached his calves and had a thin sheet of ice that had formed on top of it. Beside him stood Bepo, a bear they had found and he had been convinced to keep. In the distance bobbed a single cabin boat in inky black water. Today probably wasn't the best of days to set sail but he wasn't going to wait until tomorrow to do it.

He obeyed the command and twisted around to look at the owner of the voice. Behind him was Amara, who wore her wavy chocolate colored hair down. Some strands had been blown across her face and wasn't staying out after she brushed them out of her eyes repetitively as she raced towards him, leaving footprints in their wake. Like usual she was bundled up with light brown fur boots, thick pants that were tucked into her boots, and a long, jade green jacket that reached her thighs. The jacket also had fur wrapping around the bottom, around the hood and the cuffs of the sleeves. Compared to her he was under dressed, which boots, a jacket very much unlike hers and a furry hat.

As she neared law noted that she was carrying something that was much longer than she was tall. When she finally reached him she did not stop or even slow down but instead dropped the item and jumped him, wrapping her arms around his neck but not her legs around his waist as he assumed she had planned on doing judging by the little half jump she hadn't completed before she had crashed into him.

Stumbling back he managed to regain his footing before the both of them went down. For several minutes she clung to him, catching her breath in his ear, her chest, which was pressed to his, heaving.

Finally after she caught her breath enough to speak she muttered, "Oh good, I caught you." She sounded relieved, in fact she was very relieved that Law hadn't gotten the chance to leave without saying goodbye. She wasn't happy that he was not only leaving but was also taking Bepo, the Kung Fu bear. However Amara knew that Law would need both protection and company on his journey.

Her and Law had already had several arguments, fights even, about why she should or shouldn't be able to go with him. One lame reason was that his 'ship' was too small and would hardly hold him and Bepo. Another was that he didn't want to put her in danger. That had been the reason that had made her cave and promise that she'd stay here and not try to follow him.

"Of course." He murmured. Not only had she been running as fast as she could but he had also been dragging his feet and hoping that she wouldn't choose today to sleep all day.

She slid out of his arms, backed up a few steps and then bent down and picked up the object she had been running with. "Take good care of this. And please, please, use it; you'll need a weapon greater then this," She made a fist and lightly rapped her knuckles against Law's head, "out there." She then thrust the thing into his hands, curling his fingers around it when he reached out and accepted it. He wanted to tell her that he'd be fine but there was no guarantee so he settled on the words, "Don't worry."

"It's what you always tell me to do. But you know my instincts, my heart, are just screaming for me to be concerned." Her steady gaze slipped away from Law's and towards the ground between them as she mentioned her heart. There was an awkward silence that fell between them before Amara laughed and looked up once more, this time with a glint in her eyes. "Plus it's a woman's nature to worry about those dear to her." She was not a woman, not yet. Just as Law wasn't a man yet either. But either way he was very dear to her, Bepo too.

Law chuckled at her words before reaching out and brushing her hair away from her face. "I know." He told her before pulling his hand away from her face. When he did her dark hair returned to where it had been before he had touched it.

Suddenly she stepped around Law and took a few running steps and crashed into Bepo, who like Law had stumbled back. She peppered his face with kisses that made Law wonder why the bear got them but not him.

Between the butterfly kisses she told Bepo to take care of Law. Then, as abruptly as she had attacked Bepo, she slid out of his arms and then stood somewhere between the two of them, gloved hands shoved deep into the pockets of her jacket.

She opened her mouth to say something but Law beat her to speaking. "I'll call you once we make it to the Grand Line." He then reached into his pocket and pulled out a yellow baby Den-den mushi. Leaning the long sword against his shoulder he reached his free hand towards Amara and grabbed her hands. He lifted it up and turned her gloved hand so that it was palm up before he placed the snail into it. As she had done he curled her fingers around his gift.

"Promise?" She whispered with large eyes that were filled with surprise as large flakes began to float down around them.

For a moment the large flakes stuck to exposed flesh before melting into nothingness. They caught in her eyelashes only to be shaken loose when she blinked. The flakes also caught in her dark hair but didn't melt.

"I'm a man of my word." He scolded the girl before him. Law was starting to feel the cold through his clothes but wasn't about to say anything. If he did she'd smirk at him and ask if he were cold in a sarcastic manner and then say 'too bad' or something like that around.

She frowned slightly. "Yes, I know that quite well Law. It's just… what if-"

"What if, that's the fun of life is it not?" Law interrupted her with a smile.

Amara looked slightly conflicted as she opened her mouth to argue.

* * *

Law knew the words that would come next; he remembered the day of their departure well and often wondered about their lack of communication over the last year.

The next words were supposed to be 'Well…I suppose', not the slamming of a door and the excited, "Captain! Captain!"

Law frowned at having been rudely pulled out of the pleasant memory slash dream he had been having. It did not make him any happier when he noticed that the two people and the bear standing before him were all soaking wet, though he could not fathom why that would be the case.

"Uh…I think we should come back when Cap'n's in a better mood." Shachi whispered before turning back towards the door they had flung open. Captain was mad that they had woken him up and he didn't want to stick around long enough to give him more reasons to be mad.

However his captain's voice froze the man in his tracks. "Now, what was it you wanted?" He distinctly remembered having told them to not show their faces unless they had found his nodachi and from the looks of it they had not done so. He kicked his feet off of his desk and the suspended legs of the chair were returned to the floorboards. Expectantly Law looked at them, grey eyes coolly watching Shachi return to his place between Penguin and Bepo.

"We found your nodachi!" Penguin exclaimed ignoring the thick tension in the room, smiling proudly as he reached behind Bepo, who had both arms behind his back, took it out of the bear's paws and then thrust it out towards their captain. Holding it out Law saw that it too was dripping wet and creating another puddle on his floor. But he couldn't be mad. Annoyed and even irritated, yes, but not mad because his nodachi had in fact been found. Though he wondered if he had left it in the showers, that's the only reason that he could think of that they'd be wet.

Law got to his feet, walked around his desk and as he took the blade from Penguin's hands asked, "Where was it?"

"Oh, Bepo spotted it out on the deck. The railing was stopping it from going any farther." Shachi explained seemingly having gotten over not being able to run out while Bepo and penguin faced Captain's wrath.

"You're telling me it was on the deck?"

They were submerged as of now and had been for a week plus some odd days. They were less than ten minutes from surfacing and then docking, which means he had come very close to losing his nodachi. It wasn't as though he could go back to the North Blue to seek one just like it, he didn't have the time, and a new one just wouldn't be the same even if it were identical.

"Yes sir." Penguin instantly confirmed with a single nod.

"And you retrieved it?"

"Yes sir."

Well that certainly explained why all three of them were wet. Law didn't even want to know how they did it with the submarine being submerged but obviously they had somehow managed the feat. He wasn't going to ask so instead said, "Good work. You're dismissed."

Once the door was closed and he was yet again alone Law sat on the top of his deck, unsheathed his nodachi with one hand before using the other to dry the blade with the hem of his hoodie.

* * *

"What are we doing here Cap'n?" Shachi asked as they entered the human auction house.

It wasn't until they had found a place to seat and had settled down around their captain and their captain had gotten comfortable with hone arm across the back of a chair, one ankle resting on his knee, did he look over his shoulder at the man who had asked the question everyone was also wondering and answered,

"To kill time." He was well aware of the fact that Doflamingo owned the place, his jolly roger was displayed all over both the building's interior and exterior.

They accepted the answer with a nod and made small talk amongst themselves. As they waited Law looked around and observed the people filtering in, more or less people watching. Someone began talking behind him, that someone was loud and certainly didn't seem to care if he heard him saying how they had heard rumors that he was quite unpleasant.

Looking over his shoulder Law turned to see Eustass Kidd, a man who was quite unpleasant himself.

In response to his words Law flipped Kidd off of course a smile accompanied the gesture before he turned back around. Behind him he heard the redhead mutter something about his lack of manners.

After that it wasn't long until a man named Disco stepped onto the stage did the show start. Law didn't expect anything to happen because it was obvious that Doflamingo wasn't here. He was quite bored as people were brought onto the stage, bidding wars were fought, they were bought and then led off the stage only to be replaced by another person to be sold.

Even though the proud pirate captain had bitten his tongue off and killed himself off, it hardly got Law's attention. Only when the words, "A beautiful young human woman at the ripe age of twenty two hailing from the North Blue…" were spoken that Law snapped to attention, slightly alarmed and wondering if he had just heard correctly.

"Capn' is that-" Bepo began as a pale girl was walked out onto the stage, only to be interrupted. He did not need to finish his question for Law to be able to answer it, and Law didn't bother letting the bear waste his breath.

"Yes Bepo, I believe it is." Despite his surprise Law's voice was calm and betrayed nothing.

"What are we going to do?" Bepo asked, beady black eyes glued to the girl now on the stage.

"Who's that Cap'n?" Penguin asked before Law could answer his first mate's question.

Law was about to answer both questions, grey eyes also not leaving the figure on the stage. Brown hair was half pulled up in some kind of up do and they were scantily clad, showing most of a moderately sized chest, lots of curves and round hips. She was quite a sight. However, before he could get the chance to do so a disgustingly high price rang out, a price that most people wouldn't have bothered competing with.

Instantaneously the bowed head head snapped up and turquoise eyes skimmed the audience looking for the owner of the first bid. Law did not think twice about stating a higher price. He may not have brought a single beli with him but there were means to which he could obtain the money, or the girl. He could tell that Shachi and Penguin were completely and utterly shocked that he had expressed interest in one of the slaves being sold, while Bepo was only mildly surprised.

The explosive collar around her neck and the shackles around her wrists were heavy and dug into her flesh but she said nothing, it wouldn't matter even if she had bothered to waste her breath. She had long since shut herself down, after much fighting and getting beaten, so that she wouldn't have to hear how much some sick bastard was willing to pay for a barely dressed girl. It was a safety mechanism she supposed.

She could feel all of their eyes on her, taking in her appearance and analyzing her and debating if they wanted to bother to spend money on her like she did when going through the shops in the shopping district of the islands.

She kept her head bowed as she walked to the center of the stage and tried to ignore the things about her that the eccentric guy was rattling off for everyone to hear. They were all things that might help sell her to someone in the crowd, most truths and some lies.

A single voice, loud and clear interrupted Disco's rambling questions about if he had heard a certain price when no one had jumped the gun. Despite everything her head snapped up and she began searching for the owner of the voice, which had come from her left. Unsurprisingly it had been the voice of a male. And then the ball started rolling when an all too familiar voice coolly and calmly said another, higher that the first, price. Instantly she stopped searching for the voice of the other guy and began searching wildly for his familiar face.

Unless it was just her wishful imagination, her want to be rescued, for someone to wake her up, she could have sworn she had just heard-

Her eyes then landed on a white bear that stuck out like a sore thumb. Beside him lounged the man she was looking for.

He was here!

Their eyes made contact and she didn't know if she should be happy or positively mortified. He was not only seeing her for the first time in five or so years but he was also seeing her next to naked and at her weakest. He was witnessing one of her most shameful moments.

Their voiced pinged and ponged back and forth, steadily rising the price of the girl on the stager higher and higher.

She kept her eyes on Law or Bepo, refusing to even glance at the other bidder.

That was until after the most recent of bids silence followed. For a heartbeat she waited but then the pause began stretching on, no numbers were coming from Law's mouth, the auction house was absolutely still, the men and women holding their breaths waiting to see who would win this war.

In that moment of silence she turned her head and looked to her left to see a smug man with glinting blue eyes, spiky orange hair and really big muscles. That must be him. She thought before turning back to Law. She tried to use her eyes to beg him to try again, to say something else. She was begging for him to say something, anything.

But the silence and the stillness, it dragged on and on, each second freezing her blood until it had frozen in her veins. Black spots danced at the edge of her vision and suddenly her chest began hurting, her breathing started coming out in irregular, short, and sharp gasps. It took all of her control to not claw at her constricting chest or to cry out. She tried to keep her expression controlled and refused to show any weakness or pain. She felt like she was going to vomit, but instead she bit her bottom lip, hard, and lowered her eyes and then hung her head, slumping her shoulders so that no one could look into her eyes and see into her soul.

It was the worst feeling in the world to lose all hope for a second time. It was even worse losing it the second time than it had been the first.

Law stopped fighting for me. Her thoughts whimpered weakly as a sob broke loose and tears spilled over, slithering down dry cheeks and falling to a dusty, bloody floor.

With the other man having been deemed the winner of the war they led her off the stage. Law wasn't too disappointed that he had lost to the man; after all there were other ways to get her in this possession. Of course buying her would have been the easiest way, not the most fun or entertaining but it would have been the easiest.

"You lost." Bepo stated the obvious as she disappeared from sight. He was surprised because when he set his mind to doing something that something usually got done or accomplished.

"Hey, were you really going to spend that much for that girl?" Shachi asked Law surprised that he had even engaged in the activities of the auction house. He thought they were here to kill time, not looking for slaves. Not that he would have complained had Law won and had bought the girl.

"Yes." Was all he offered his curious subordinate. If he hadn't serious, willing to pay that much for her then he would not have raised her hopes. He had watched her defeated eyes get more and more hopeful with every time he counted with a price higher than the previous.

And after he refused to go any higher he had watched the seconds kill the hope he had revived. It had been terrible to watch the tears build in her eyes and quiver at the edge, threatening to spill over. Law felt guilty as she lowered her head, hunched her shoulders and seemed to cave in on herself, but only a little. There were other ways to get her, to make her his and already a plan was formulating as a mermaid in a large fishbowl was wheeled out.

"Are you going to buy her Cap'n?" Penguin asked Law, taking his slight interest in the mermaid in a different way. Law was simply wondering what it might be like if he were to have a Mermaid or a Fishman on his operating table, a chance he hadn't yet had.

Unfortunately the man was seriously asking his question, which made Law chuckle. "I have no need for a Mermaid." He told the man.

"And you have a need for a hot lady slave?" Shachi interjected, making Penguin's eyes widen.

"Maybe you should get out more." Penguin muttered under his breath.

"No." Law sternly put them in their places. Slave my ass. Law thought. Amara would make a very bad slave after she returned to herself that is. After that happened she'd decide that she'd had enough of waiting on someone and obeying orders and after that happened she'd do something about it. She wouldn't sit there complaining but instead would plot and then act accordingly.

"Then why-" Penguin began, utterly confused, only to get interrupted by none other than Shachi who had caught on if only just a bit.

"What does she mean to you?" He asked as a flying fish crashed through the ceiling, bringing with it the Straw hat Luffy and a few other people. It seemed the boy had some business with the Celestial Dragon trying to buy the Mermaid and had harmed a Fishman that seemed to be with the Straw hat Luffy and a friend of the Mermaid who was pounding on the glass of the bowl she had been placed in.

Law smiled, it was about time things got interesting. "You'll see." He answered not really caring about what his crew thought of his answer or the conclusions they jumped to.

The Straw hat Luffy was both reckless and entertaining. From the looks of it most of his crew had joined the battle as well as the Marines that were surrounding the auction house. Law wondered if Luffy knew that there was a Marine base near-by or not. If he had to guess he'd say that the boy was clueless.

The fighting around him was chaotic, the spectators were in a frenzy and Luffy seemed to have his sights on the Mermaid and only the Mermaid. Then to add to everything going on the wall behind the stage was more or less ripped open and out stepped a giant and an old man that appeared to be Silvers Rayleigh, who proceeded to use haki to knock out every weak willed person in a single blast. Looking around he saw that the Kidd Pirates, the Straw hat's and his crew was all that remained standing.

"Captain?" Bepo asked as Law heard Shachi asking if Penguin if he was ok, obviously he had been affected but not knocked unconscious, which was a good thing.

"Hmm?" He responded not taking his eyes off the Straw hat Luffy.

"Where did Amara go? I didn't see her back there." Bepo was sure she'd have run up to them by now, even if she was mad at Law for losing. Surely she'd take Law over some random stranger.

Before anything could be said, before concern could be expressed Eustass Kidd decided that he was going to quote 'hold of the Marines and that him and the straw hats should remain where they were' unquote. That of course didn't sit well with either captain and both were flanking Kidd by time the exit was reached. A few words, mostly a threat to Eustass Kidd, were exchanged before the fighting began.

Both the Straw Hat Luffy and Kidd had devil fruit powers, as did Law himself, this fact seemed to have surprised the Marines greatly as they each took out a large number by themselves.

After an attack the Straw Hat Luffy shrunk to the size of a small child. He also declared that he was going to be the one to find the One Piece. That statement of course caught both his and Eustass' attention.

Escape, that's what she did the moment the opportunity had presented itself.

She ran down the hall, jumping over fallen guards and workers of the auction house. After jumping over one of the larger guys she heard a snap before she was falling towards the ground. Hitting it she saw that the heel of her shoe had broken. Both impatient and frustrated she let out a growl and took both shoes off since she couldn't run in one of them and she wasn't going to run in a single heel. As she tore the pink heels off she was well aware of the closing of her window of opportunity. It was only so long before the buyers tried to claim their purchases before fleeing the scene she had only gotten a glimpse of from the other side of the wall.

The back door got closer and closer until before she knew it she had burst out of the hallway and into the bright light of day. Once bursting outside she didn't stop, she didn't break stride she had to put space between this damn building and herself.

Freedom! She mentally rejoiced as she started putting space between the auction house and herseslf.

Her progress was stopped when a large hand wrapped around her upper and yanked her to a stop. "Bitch." The man snarled looking triumph as he loomed over her. He wore a vest with pockets, a long necklace with a cross with a loop around it dangling around his neck. He also wore black pants that were tucked into black boots and had a red sash tied at his waist. He had thick arms, ripped abs and didn't look too happy. Never a good combination.

She wildly tried yanking her arm out of his grasp but that didn't work. Closing her eyes she took a deep breath and screamed for Law, the first person who might be able to help her to have come to mind. He was probably busy and most likely couldn't hear her. Hell he was probably gone but it was worth a try wasn't it? She had run out of options and wasn't thinking straight. If she had been she would have tried the classic kick the man between the legs trick.

Found her. Law thought in response to Bepo's earlier question as he heard someone shout his name. He turned away from the Marines and ordered Bepo to attack, now done with fighting. As he walked around the building he heard the sounds of Bepo taking care of the Marines as ordered. But Law also heard the sounds of another struggle.

Amara came into sight just in time for Law to watch the large man backhand and then spit on her before grumbling something threatening that Law was glad to have not caught. Simply put that man was going to regret having touched Amara.

"Excuse me." Law said stepping forwards as the man's boot collided with her stomach for the third consecutive time. "Do you know you shouldn't hit a woman?" He asked as the next kick had Amara coughing out blood. As he distracted the man she rolled over and onto her hands and knees and fought to catch her breath.

"This whore isn't a woman. She's a worthless piece of shit!" He exclaimed kicking her once again, this time off the ground due to her position on her hands and knees, much to Law's annoyance. "Do you want it?" He sneered at Law not recognizing him as the Surgeon of Death, which was fine by Law. Even when he didn't answer the man he shouted, "Well too damn bad!" He laughed wildly and then somehow the collar began beeping.

Frowning Law muttered the word 'room' before a blue dome surrounded the three of them.

Suddenly realizing the danger the hoodie wearing man possessed the man reached for the pistol tucked into the red sash at his side. Upon drawing the gun he shot at the tanned man who had interrupted him, the man the bitch had called for. Law smiled and before the bullet could strike him he simply swapped places. Upon switching places Law noticed a necklace around the man's neck.

"What the-" The man began looking around before the round bullet audibly struck him in the stomach. When that happened his blue eyes widened with both shock and pain.

The beeping was getting more and more urgent, clearly freaking Amara out, so quickly Law replaced the collar around her neck for the necklace around the man's neck. Seconds after the swap the collar went off and that was the end of him. As the man fell Law found himself wishing that he had gotten the chance to do a little more, to have just a little more fun.

When Law crouched down he saw that Amara's turquoise eyes were wide and fear danced openly in them. After the last kick she had curled herself into a tight ball, her turquoise eyes were wide and fear openly danced in them. Law reached out, putting a hand on her shoulder before quietly saying, "It's ok." After a few seconds of waiting for her reaction and nothing happening he added, "You know I won't hurt him."

Blinking a few times, as if coming to, her eyes focused on Law. And upon seeing him crouching next to her she unfurled herself and stood, Law following suit. She contemplated running, Law could see it on her face and in the way she looked around, searching for an escape route. And he thought she had determined that she was in fact going to run.

And he was right, she did.

Straight into his arms.

Law had always had good timing and this time was no exception. She tightly wrapped her arms around his neck, swearing that she would never let go. Her legs clung tightly to his waist and her face was pressed into his neck, taking in the familiar feel of his arms lightly around her body. He smelled as he always had she noted pressing her face further into the space between his neck and his shoulder. He still had the fuzzy hat and a long sword was held in his hand.

She had noticed that he had grown some facial hair and had a goatee on his chin. His wardrobe had changed as well.

"We can continue this warm welcome later. We need to get out of here Amara." Law said releasing her from the embrace he had returned.

Silently she obliged, letting go of Law. They passed a large man that was still chained up outside the entrance of the buildings. "Hey Law." She muttered leaning closer to him and lowering her voice.

"Yes?" He asked taking note of those two things.

"You should help him." She muttered not too loudly just so he wouldn't overhear them and get his hopes raised only for Law to reject her idea.

"I suppose I could recruit him." And with that Law had gained two new crew members.

As they left, Shachi ran towards them screaming, "Cap'n! Cap'n!" When he reached them he blinked behind the dark sunglasses that hid his eyes, and then asked, "Who's that?" He was mainly interested in the girl that Law had tried to buy; it was obvious that the large man was going to join the crew.

Before Law could answer, there had been a lot of that today, Amara shot back, "Who are you?"

By then the rest of his crew had joined them and Penguin had echoed Shachi's question. "This is my crew, Shachi, Penguin and now Jean Bart." She could introduce herself now if she wished to, of course she could do it later or have Bepo tell the crew who she was, he didn't care.

Amara nodded at the crew he had just introduced her to and then said, "It's nice to meet you." She didn't sound too terribly sincere but there was a chorus of 'yeah's' before she turned back to Law and asked, "When did you get this?" She thumbed the patch of hair growing on his chin. "More importantly when did you eat a devil fruit?"

Instead of being able to tell Amara that it had been a while ago for both of her questions the thing attacking the Kidd pirates turned its attention to them and began attacking. So instead Law said, "That is something we'll have to worry about later."

Defeating the thing that looked to be Kuma was a bit of a struggle. Bepo's attack only ended up hurting the bear and not their attacker. Amara was right on Bepo's heels and didn't stop to learn from Bepo's misfortune. The two of them rolled around on the ground, one holding their foot and the other clutching the hand they had used to punch the thing.

As they made their way back to the sub, the thing having eventually been taken care of, Amara smiled at Law. And before he got the chance to ask why, she took the liberty of answering his unasked as of yet question. "I see you've learned how to use the nodachi."

One of the men in the white suits, one of the men that had been sitting around Law in the auction house slung their arm around her shoulders and with a laugh said, "You should have seen Cap'n when he lost it." He shook his head. "Not a pretty sight let me tell ya. He got real scary, wouldn't like for it to happen again."

Amara smiled. He had gotten worked up over the loss of the nocachi she had given him. Cute.

When they made it to the shore she expected to see the dinky little boat he had set out in, though it was stupid to think that he would still own it, having a crew and all. So when she didn't see it she frowned and asked, "What happened to the boat?" They were currently approaching a thing the color of his hoodie.

"Lost that a while ago. Not long after setting sail." He told her. That thing hadn't lasted long, hadn't even made it to Reverse Mountain.

"How do you lose a boat?" She wouldn't call it a ship because fishing boats were larger than the thing he had taken. She also noted how he had not said that he had somehow destroyed it, so she was left wondering that had happened to it.

"One of two ways Miss." Shachi answered holding up two fingers, arm still slung over her shoulders as they began boarding the yellow contraption. "One, it gets stolen. Or two it gets destroyed through storms, Marines, pirates or wear'n tear."

The arm around her shoulders was returned to its owner at that moment as a voice said, "I'm going to steal Miss Amara away from you for a few minutes." The man saluted Law and with that she was led through a door. She did not fail to notice Law's wrapped around her, hand on her waist in an almost possessive manner that made the corners of her mouth turn upwards ever so slightly.

Without being told to she slipped onto the table in the middle of the small room. Before Law could touch her however she grabbed his hands, stopping them from beginning to make their rounds, and asked, "Do you know what you're doing? Last thing I remember you doing was trying to heal my cold, and that only made me bedridden for a week longer than I should have been." Even though the experience had not been fun in even the most slightest way Amara smiled at the memory.

"Do you have so little faith in me?"

It had been five years; he had probably learned tons and healed lots of people. But despite that her answer was quite contrary to her thoughts. "After that, yes."

"I think you'll be pleased to know that I'm not trying to treat your cold today."

"I don't have a-" She stopped, realizing what Law was saying, and then released his hands to do whatever doctory thing they were going to do. Long fingers and steady hands were examining her body, making sure nothing was wrong. Her hand seemed to be ok, though on her stomach big bruises were already beginning to form.

"What are you doing on Sabaody?" Law asked finding everything to be just fine upon first inspection. Of course there were plenty of things that could have been wrong but he'd save that examination for another day.

She simply shrugged. "Getting sold."

"Before that." Law clarified.

"Waiting for you. I decided that you'd probably never come back to the North Blue. So I hitched a few rides and wound up here, cuz you know everyone comes here before going to the New World. So I've spend that last year fretting and worrying that I had either missed you already or that when you did come I was going to miss you then. Oh, and I was avoiding those stupid slavers, I spent a lot of time doing that."

She made it sound as though it were no big deal, as if she were talking about the weather and she didn't care either way. But he could tell that she wasn't lying because Amara's lies were always nightmares. Plus the timeline fit together perfectly. "You lost your snail didn't you?" About a year ago all communication with her had stopped mysteriously and with it having not been his fault he often wondered what had happened.

"No." She haughtily snapped crossing her arms across her chest with a cross expression. Never would she be so careless and irresponsible to lose her only connection to Law. "I took it with me to a bar and some bastard killed it." It had been a tragic day for both the bastard and the snail. There was a pause that lasted only a few beats before it was broken by Amara. "So now that you've killed the guy that bought me his ownership of my person gets transferred to you." She supposed that wasn't too bad, at least she knew Law and knew, maybe, that he wouldn't do anything weird or that she didn't want to.

"Does it?" Law feigned surprise at her statement.

In a matter of fact tone she snapped, "Yes." Then with heavy sarcasm asked, "O'great master, what do you desire I do? Cook? Though I wouldn't advise that. Clean? I wouldn't advise that either. Or something…else? Tell me your first command and it might get done."

At that grey eyes narrowed and the smile on his face fell. Yes she was now his, to do what he pleased with, he could tell her a magnitude of things to do, but as previously she would not make a good slave. Her cooking at one point had almost killed him-only a slight exaggeration there- and she made messes better then she cleaned them. And Law rather liked their friendship and wasn't about to ruin it by whatever else the something else of her speech may or may not have entailed. "Don't." He grumbled at her.

"Don't what?" Turquoise eyes widened and her voice took on an 'innocent' tone.

"Start that shit." He muttered. Plus if she were to stay that would mean she would become one of his subordinates, a member of his crew, and that meant that she would have to listen to Captain's orders.

Her eyes lit up and her façade dropped as she perked up, back straightening and smile returning to her face. "So you're relieving me from my slave duties?"

Law shook his head at Amara. "Just cut it out."

"Alright. Alright." She sighed out the words. "I was just messin' with ya, though I can't believe you lost to the likes of him! I mean you let him win at his own game."

Instead of telling her his plan had been to merely raise the price for her to make the man pay more than she was worth- a statement she'd take great offence to and was clearly a lie- Law smirked, a sight she had only seen frozen and plastered on a wanted poster. "I think things turned out exceptionally. Don't you think? You have your freedom and I got you free of charge." It was better this way anyway.

"Yeah, I guess they did. But you know you cut things real close."

"Aah, my bad." Law somewhat apologized.

Amara reached out and grabbed one of his hands. Turning it over so that it was palm down she examined the back of his hand and his knuckles. With the bright spotlight like light of the room she could plainly see that she had not been hallucinating. While one of her hands held his, the fingertips of the other traced the markings inked into his flesh. "Tattoos." She murmured. "When did you get tattoos?"

If today was anything to do by then there was a lot that she did not know about Law. The thought saddened her but she tried not to let it show.

"A while ago." He used his free hand to push up the black sleeves of the hoodie that had fallen down to reveal identical tattoos on his forearms as well.

"You never told me." She pouted now tracing the new tattoos.

Law was quick to counter. "You never asked."

And instead of firing something back at him she said, "Well I'm going to say hi to Bepo." She let go of his hand, slid off of the operating table and brushed past him. As she crossed the small room she added, "Didn't get the proper chance to do so earlier." And with that Amara was gone from the room.

Two doors, one staircase, many turns, several hallways and an unknown number of minutes later and Amara was lost, which could only be expected if she were to be completely honest with herself. This was her first time on this…thing; she was going to settle on calling it a thing. Not only that but it had been a miracle that she had even made it to Sabaody, the obvious perils hadn't been much of a problem.

As she walked in what felt like circles she muttered about how she should have asked where Bepo was before leaving. As she meandered around the thing she rubbed frantically at her arms hoping to use friction to offer a little bit of warmth. Between mutterings about where Bepo might be and how she should have gotten directions she began grumbling about how she should have gotten more clothing before wandering around. But she had done neither and as a consequence she was not hopelessly lost and very, very cold.

"You look lost." A voice said startling her. In response she whirled around, throwing a kick as she did so. The man blocked the high, aimed at his face, roundhouse kick with ease.

Placing her foot back on the ground she muttered, "That's because I am in fact all turned around." She didn't verbally admit that she couldn't remember which way she had come from, that was just too embarrassing to even think, let alone speak.

"Who are you looking for? If it's Captain he's-"

Amara shook her head. She had just up and left him in the middle of a conversation, she most certainly wasn't seeking him. So she interrupted the man wearing a hat with a yellow bill and the word Penguin printed on it. "No no no, not him. I'm actually looking for Bepo." That's the only other person she knew on this thing, though the crew so far was quite friendly, not very piratey in her opinion.

"Follow me Miss. You weren't too far away." He told her.

Well at least she had been close.

So down the hall she had already been halfway down, turn a corner and down a few doors. There he stopped and gestured to the door he had stopped a bit to the side of, saying that the room was the training room and that Bepo was in there.

"Thanks." She nodded at the man and then with that slipped into the room, closing the door behind her, figuring that Bepo had it closed for a reason. Either the white bear was warming up or he was cooling down because his movements were slow and controlled his face blank with concentration. With ease she fell into line next to him, copying his movements with a smile on her face.

It had been a while since she had done this, let alone done it with Bepo. Actually before he had left, that was the last time she had done this with him.

"Hey Amara." Bepo greeted as they slowly descended into a stance Amara remembered was called the tiger stance. She stretched in a way that she hadn't in five years. "Are you ok?" He asked.

"Peachy." She replied as they moved on.

"Captain take care of you?" Of course Law had taken care of Amara. He would have done it for any of the crew and would have been more than willing to make sure she too was in top shape.

"Yeah. I've made a few shocking discoveries today." She told him.

"What?"

"Well for starters he's got facial hair now. And he got tattoos. AND he ate a devil fruit."

"He's had all three of those things for a while now." Bepo wondered if she knew about the tattoos on his back, on his chest and the one on his shoulder. If she didn't he was sure she'd find out eventually and have a field day making that discovery. Though Bepo would rather not think about how she'd get a look at the other tattoos.

"You know you're quite talkative today." Amara pointed out happily. Maybe Bepo had grown out of his shy meekness.

His ears flattened, he hunched over and a depressed aura surrounded the bear before he murmured the word, "Sorry."

Or maybe not.

"You know it's not a bad thing." Amara was quick to say. "Can we spar a bit?" She not so discretely decided to change the subject.

Not only did she need to warm up but besides attacking Bepo and refusing to let him move sparing was an effective way to do exactly that. Bepo nodded and they bowed to each other before beginning. Amara didn't know Kung-Fu, only the few things she had picked up from Bepo a long time ago and bar fights not in the distant past.

As they sparred they also conversed.

"You've gotten bigger." Bepo said. And she had. She was taller and her body more filled out.

"And you've gotten stronger." She replied dancing out of his reach. Around the room they went, dodging and throwing punches and kicks.

When Bepo knocked her onto her back Amara didn't immediately scramble to her feet. Instead she lay there arching her back off the ground and stretching. "Are you tired?" Bepo asked. If she wanted to stop all she had to do was say so.

"Sort of." She was prolonging leaving until Bepo was done, not wanting to get lost again. "Do you happen to know where Law sleeps?" It was probably the safest place to get some rest on the thing.

Seeing her hesitancy Bepo asked, "Did you get lost?"

"Yes sir I did. But Mr. Penguin assisted me."

"Captain's room is this way. I'll show you." And with that Bepo led Amara through the sub and to where she wanted to go.

"This room?" She asked once he had stopped. When he nodded she pecked his cheek and said, "Thanks a lot. I'll see you sometime later." Amara didn't know when sometime later would be. But she opened the door and walked in without bothering to knock first. It wasn't like Law was stripping in the middle of his room or emerging fresh from a shower with only a towel around his waist. Hell he wasn't even in his room.

So Amara, deciding that a shower sounded like a good idea, took one. Once clean and in need of decent clothes she walked around Law's room in a towel, searching for something to wear because she was not putting the auction clothes back on, she'd rather dive into a vat of acid then have to wear those strips of fabric again.

Pulling open a drawer she pulled out a shirt. Upon examination she found that it was a hoodie similar to the one Law was wearing. So she dropped the towel and pulled it over her head. It was baggy and too large for her frame, reaching mid-thigh. Once dressed she crawled into Law's bed and curled up, pulling the blankets up to her chin and snuggling in before falling asleep.

Sometime later the blankets that she had wrapped around herself were pulled back, letting all the warm air escape into the room and the cold air invade the cocoon of cotton as the bed dipped with someone's weight.

A lot less than half conscious, Amara rolled over and snuggled close to the new source of head, unperturbed when her fingers brushed against bare flesh. "Law?" She sleepily questioned making sure it was him. If it wasn't she'd be wide awake in a matter of seconds and possibly beating the person it was who dare slide into bed next to her.

"Yes?"

"You want to know something I've been wanting to tell you forever?" Her speech was slow and drowsy, of that of someone who was hardly awake.

Law's curiosity was piqued and so quietly he murmured, "Tell me."

"I think I love you." There was a beat of silence before he just barely caught the words, "Even though you're an ass."

That got the man chuckling quietly at the girl beside him. She probably expected her confession of love to be returned but instead he asked, "Really?" Being half conscious didn't mean Amara knew what she was saying.

"Yeah." Amara sighed out.

"I already knew that." He told her. Law had never felt the need for the words to be spoken, the fact that they still spoke despite becoming a pirate, despite becoming wanted and many more unspeakable things. Maybe that was why she still thought she loved him, she didn't know of over half of the things he had done.

"Do you want to know something else?" She asked, pulling Law out of his thoughts and making him wonder if she'd remember this conversation the next time she awoke.

"Sure."

"I've missed you."

Law began raking his fingers through her thick hair, not pulling at the damp tangles they caught on. "Trust me, I know." Amara shifted, moving so that her head was no on his chest, her arm draped across his torso and one of her legs thrown over his. "But do you really want to become a pirate?" As irrelevant as the question was to a love confession he didn't want her staying with him and not knowing what she was getting into.

"Anything for you." Amara murmured before shifting again but this time so that she was looking down at him.

His hand went from going through her hair to gripping her chin, thumb brushing across her bottom lip. "Be careful when throwing around the word anything. It's a dangerous word. Did you know that Amara."

This time she shook her head, no. She didn't.

And so with that, in a single movement, Law had reversed the roles. Now Amara lay on her back, looking up at him with wide turquoise, quite awake, with Law looking down at her with grey eyes filled with something she couldn't put her thumb on.

Leaning down so that his lips brushed the shell of her ear he roughly asked, "Anything you say?"

"Anything." She repeated in a much quieter tone than before. "There's not much I wouldn't do for you. I would lie, cheat, kill, die for no one but you."

Law would remember that for the future. There wasn't much she wouldn't do for him.

"I'm afraid I'm not so selfless." Law said before kissing Amara's lips. It was rather ironic that all those years ago that he had insisted that she stay on their home island in the North Blue for her safety but now, in order to keep her safe she was joining his crew.

Amara's slightly calloused hands traced up his back before combing through his short black hair. Against his her lips parted and he knew what she wanted. Only instead of giving into her, instead of letting Amara get her way he kissed her jaw and then down to her neck where he began lighting sucking and kissing the skin, earning him breathy gasps of surprise and delight.

"I-I don't mind." She murmured, voice getting higher towards the end of her sentence.

* * *

**A/n:** Thanks for your time. I came across this in an old notebook, so I changed a few things and decided that I'd type it out. It's kind of long for a oneshot isn't it? Oh well.

Does anyone think I should change the title to Lost and Found? Or should I just leave it as it is?

I hope you have enjoyed and would like to give me some feedback, your opinions, two thumbs up.


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